


Unexpected

by owlmoose



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Loss of Powers, Reunions, Time Travel, Trope Bingo Round 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-27
Updated: 2013-10-27
Packaged: 2017-12-30 16:45:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1021026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlmoose/pseuds/owlmoose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Time travel has some unexpected side effects for Steve Rogers -- and he meets up with the person he wants most and least to see.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unexpected

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the second round of Trope Bingo, combining the squares "au: mundane" and "time travel". Thanks to Rhiannon47 for the suggestion that sparked the plot bunny.

"This," Steve mutters, rubbing the back his head, "was a bad idea." He'd known something was wrong even before he tripped on a loose floorboard and tumbled to the ground. His reflexes should be better than that now. But here he is, lying on the floor and panting: heart beating too fast, limbs weighing too little, lungs working too hard. He closes his eyes for a moment and forces himself to take a few slow breaths. An asthma attack is the last thing he needs. 

"Whoa!" Clint exits the time portal and rushes to Steve's side to pull him up, a hand around his suddenly slender arm. "What happened?" 

Natasha, the last of the team, taps her finger against the console screen of the portal device with a frown. "Looks like passing through the time vortex reverted your DNA to its original form. From before the super soldier serum. It should go back to usual once we return to our own time stream." She glances over his shoulder at Steve with a grimace. "I hope," she adds, muttering under her breath. 

"You want to go back?" Clint asks. 

Steve steadies himself against Clint's shoulder, then shakes his head. "No. We came here for a reason. That time vortex is a threat to the future as well as the past. We'll finish the mission. I can just keep an eye on the portal while you search for the source." 

"All right." Natasha looks around the small SSR storeroom. "Hey, check out that calendar. 1947. I didn't expect to go back nearly that far." 

"Then I really need to stay in here, out of sight," Steve says. "1947 is too close to my original time frame; someone might... recognize...." 

Even as he speaks the words, he knows it's too late: the storeroom door opens and a familiar head pokes inside, a woman's face wreathed by brown curls. The face he wants most to see, and also least, especially now that he's swimming in his too-big shirt, pants cuffs dragging on the floor. 

"Hello?" The voice Steve hears every night in dreams rings out, sharp and angry. "Hello? Who's there?" Peggy Carter steps fully into the room, then freezes, her eyes locking with Steve's as her jaw drops. "It can't be," she whispers. "It _can't_." 

Steve swallows, and a second time. "Agent-- Peggy. Yeah, it's me. Well, sort of." He gestures down his scrawny torso with a grimace. "It's kind of a long story, but I'm here from the future. Several decades out. There's a time vortex, and we're trying to fix it from both ends." 

"The future," Peggy murmurs. "So-- you survived? By traveling though time? And it changed you back?" 

"Not-- exactly." Steve grimaced. "Like I said, long story. No one was supposed to see us." 

Peggy raises an eyebrow and steps close enough that Steve can smell her perfume. "You're crashing around in my broom cupboard, and I want supposed to notice you?" 

"Sorry, ma'am," Natasha says. "We didn't expect to come out next to an inhabited office. But you can understand our desire to interrupt the time streams as little as possible." 

"Yes, of course." Peggy looks up at Natasha with a nod. "I'll stay out of your way, unless there's some other way I can assist." 

Clint clears his throat and exchanges a glance with Natasha. "Actually," he says, "if you could help us find the source of this time vortex we're tracking down, that would help us a lot." 

"I'm happy to." Peggy turns back to Steve, eyes softening. "I know I wasn't supposed to see you, but I'm glad I did. I'm glad to know you're still alive, however it happened." 

Steve swallows hard. "I-- I can't--" 

She smiles and tips her head. "I know you can't tell me," she murmurs, resting a hand on his arm. "Not that we've managed time travel yet, but the brass has already written out the rules about not interfering with the future or the past. So I understand." 

"Thanks." Steve bobs his head, then lowers his eyes. "I'm sorry it had to be -- that I'm -- that it's like this." 

She shakes her head. "I don't care. It's still you, Steve, no matter what happened to you. And I'm so, so glad to see you. " Fingers tightening on his arm, she leans down and kisses him, lips gentle against his. Without thinking, he raises a hand to her face, strokes her cheek, strokes her hair, pulls her into an embrace. 

Across the room, Natasha clears her throat, and Steve jerks away. But she's smiling at him. "Sorry to break up the reunion, but we should get going." 

"Of course." Peggy rests a hand on Steve's chest, curls her fingers over his heart. "Good luck," she murmurs. 

"You too," Steve manages to reply, and after another kiss -- sweet, gentle, much too fast -- she is leaving, her hand trailing down his arm, catching his fingers as she turns to go. 

"Agent Carter, I presume?" Natasha holds out a hand, and Peggy takes it. "I'm Natalie Rushman, and this is Barton. Here's what I can tell you..." and the door closes behind them, leaving Steve alone with the portal and too many memories to count. 


End file.
